A high cliff coastline in Juguang, a southern island in Matsu, Taiwan.

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Forget about the fact that you're looking at an obscure island off the beaten path. You can easily imagine this to be the same coastline of the northern island of Kauai in Hawaii... without the tourists... or any tourists for that matter. One of the greatest points of coming to Matsu is that they are completely and utterly undiscovered. Rental scooters are available for hire to whisk yourself off to any remote corner of an already remote set of islands.

The Taiwanese government is heavily promoting tourism to the area so it's simply a matter of time before the islands begin to see a steady flow of foreign tourists. One clear indicator of government commitment to tourism is the high quality of free Matsu pamphlets, choc full of information for visitors... and without a single hint of embarrassing Chinglish in them!

As of this writing (August 24, 2011), the only airline that flies to Nangan Island in Matsu is Uni Air and the cost of a one-way ticket is approximately US$65. An even more affordable way is to hop on a daily ferry from the Taiwanese mainland. Depending on the class of ticket, you can travel starting at US$30. Ferries from Taiwan travel overnight whereas ferries departing to Taiwan travel during the day.